Stars 50+R Report (LONG)

[WillMagic]

So I haven't done one of these for the forum...ever. For that matter, I haven't posted here in a good while, because I've played maybe 5 MTT's in two months. But after a rough morning at 15/30, I didn't particularly feel like playing any more cash games.

I tried not to give my opinions on how I played specific hands to let you guys be unbiased in your analyses. Obviously I played some hands great and others not so great, but I tried just to report and not to give my opinion...that's for later.

So here goes.
I didn't rebuy at the beginning of the tournament. I generally wait to get a feel for the quality of players at the table. And at this table in particular I didn't feel that great about rebuying - my deep stack NL game isn't awesome, and there was nobody in particular spewing chips.

Hand 8, 10-20 blinds, T1500: I'm dealt K8o in the BB. Folded to the button who limps, SB folds, I check. Flop comes QJ5 whatever, I check, Button bets 60 and I fold.

Hand 21, 15-30 blinds, T1425: I'm dealt 77 in MP. 1 EP limper, I limp along, folded to the BB who checks. Flop KJJ, BB checks, limper bets 120, I fold, BB folds.

Hand 22, 15-30 blinds, T1395: I'm dealt QQ in EMP. UTG with 3000 chips limps, folded to me and I raise to 130, folded back around to UTG and he calls. Flop JT3 rainbow. He checks, I bet 235, he folds. Up to 1570.

Hand 26, 15-30 blinds, T1570: JTo in the big blind. 1 MP limper, CO (villain from previous hand) makes it 90, Button calls, SB folds, I call, limper calls. Flop J55. Checked to CO who bets 90 into a 375 pot, Button folds, I call, limper folds. Heads up to the turn which is the 4h. Check-check. River is the Th, making the board 5s 5d Jh 4h Th. I bet 200, CO folds. Up to T1885.

Hand 29, 15-30 blinds, T1870: AJs in MP. UTG+2 limps, next player raises to 150, 1 player folds and I call, folded around to the EP limper who jams for 4K+, the original raiser thinks and calls, and I turbo muck. UTG+2 turns over 77, original raiser has AA. Flop comes with a 7 and UTG+2 sucks out for a 8.5Kish pot. Meanwhile I'm down to 1720.

Hand 35, 25-50 blinds, T1720: A6o in the BB. 1 MP limper, folded to me and I check. Heads up to the flop for T125. Flop AKQ two hearts, of which I have none. I check, limper bets 200, I fold.

Hand 55, 50-100 blinds, T1420: I've been verry card dead. Generally I'm more active in the rebuy period with deep stacks, but there's only so much you can do with 93o and K2o. Anyway, I'm dealt AJo in the CO, folded to me, i raise to 300 and steal the blinds. Up to T1570.

Hand 60, 50-100 blinds, T1570: I'm dealt AKo UTG, raise to 300 and steal the blinds.

Hand 63, 50-100 blinds, T1570: We're within one minute of the rebuy period ending at this point. UTG+1 thorladen limps for 100. Next to act raises to 400. I'm on the button with 99 and jam. Raiser, who has me well covered, calls and shows KJo. The flop comes with a J and I don't improve. Rebuy!

This marks the end of the rebuy period. I rebuy a second time and take the add-on, to get up to 5K chips. I'm now in for $200. 5K is well below the average at this point.

Hand 67, 75-150 blinds, T5000: I'm dealt QTo UTG+2. Folded to me, I raise to 400 and steal the blinds.

Hand 70, 75-150 blinds, T5225: I'm dealt 68o in the BB. Folded to the SB(T8025) who minraises to 300. I call. Flop comes KT5 two diamonds, I have one diamond. SB bets out 300, I raise to 950, SB folds. Up to 5825.

Hand 71, 75-150 blinds, T5825: I'm dealt 55 in the SB. Folded to the button who limps, I complete, BB checks. Flop AJ8, I check, BB bets 150, button calls, I fold.

Hand 79, 75-150 blinds, T5675: I'm dealt Q9h in the BB. thorladen limps UTG+2, folded to me and I check. Flop comes Q83 all spades, I lead out with a pot-sized bet of 375, thor folds. Up to 5900.

General feel for the table at this point: It's generally quite solid. Shocking in the Stars 50 rebuy, I know…it’s only one of the strongest fields on the net. The aforementioned Thorladen is across the table from me, and The Shrike is now sitting two to my right.

Hand 98, 100-200 blinds, T5225: I'm dealt A6o in the button. Folded to me, I raise to 600 and steal the blinds. Back to T5225.

I'm moved to a table with TheBeat two to my left and WSOPELMO directly on my right. I'm also the second-smallest stack at the table: The stacks range from ELMO with the short stack of T4700 to the big stack of T20000, with a number of stacks in the range of 10K.

Hand 109, 100-200/25, T5100: I'm in the CO with 22. Folded to me, I raise to 600, Button calls, BB calls. 3 to the flop of T73 rainbow. BB checks, I bet 1500, both fold. Up to 6575.

Hand 113, 100-200/25, T6500: I'm dealt JJ UTG and I raise to 600. Folded to ELMO in the BB who calls. Flop comes K78, two clubs, Elmo checks, I bet 1100, Elmo folds. Up to 7350.

Hand 116, 100-200/25, T7000: I'm dealt AA on the button. UTG minraises to 400. I reraise to 1400. BB, who has the whole table covered, moves all in for 20K+. UTG folds, I call, BB turns over AQ of hearts. I get a little sweat when a second heart turns, but the aces hold up and I'm up to T14650.

Hand 117, 100-200/25, T14650: I'm dealt K9 of hearts in the CO. UTG+1, UTG+2 limp, 1 player folds, an MP player limpes, another player folds, I limp along, button folds, SB completes and the BB checks. Flop comes 6d 5h 2s. Checked to me and I check. Turn comes the 6h, giving me a four-flush. UTG+1 checks, UTG+2 bets 1000 into the 1200 pot. He's got about 8300 behind, and he's struck me as a strong player from what I've seen, but I don't have a really specific read. Folded to me. I think and fold, UTG+1 folds and UTG+2 takes it down.

Hand 118, 100-200/25, T14425: I'm dealt AJ of hearts 3 off the button. 1 MP limper, I raise to 800, Button calls, blinds fold and the limper calls. 3 to the flop for 2900ish. Flop comes 457 two spades. Limper checks, I check, and button checks. Turn is the 9 of spades. Limper bets 2200, I fold, and the button folds. Down to T13600.

Hand 126, 200-400/25, T12825: 8-handed. I'm dealt A5o 2 off the button. Folded to me and I raise to 1200. Verrry aggro big stack (who doubled me up earlier when I had AA) reraises to 5200. I fold, not happy at myself for stealing into a resteal-happy big stack. Down to 11600.

Hand 129, 200-400/25, T11550: Still 8-handed. I'm dealt 77 UTG and I raise to 1200. Next to act thinks for a few seconds and raises all-in for 4350 more. His stack has been dwindling fast - he was close to 15K ten hands ago. Folded back to me, I figure his range is pretty wide and call. He shows 55 and fails to improve. Up to 17871.

Hand 133, 200-400/25, T17821: Back to 9-handed. I'm dealt TT UTG+2. UTG, who has me covered, raises to 1600, I think and call, everyone else folds. Flop comes 499 rainbow. UTG bets 2000 into the 4000 pot. I raise to 5750, unsure of my action if he jams. Thankfully he folds. Up to 22196.

Hand 144, 300-600/50, T21246: 8-handed again. I'm dealt 57o in the BB. Folded to the SB with a stack of 13000ish who completes, and I check. The SB comes up in later hands, so I'll refer to him as Joe. Anyway, the flop comes AJT with two hearts. Joe min-bets 600, I raise to 2200, Joe min-reraises to 3800. I consider jamming, because I feel like he's full of [censored], but I fold. Down to 18K or so.

Hand 149, 300-600/50, T17896: 9-handed. UTG+2, the guy who I faced in hand 133, minraises to 1200. I call in MP with AJo. Everyone else folds. Flop comes K94 rainbow, UTG+2 bets 2400 and I fold. Down to 16646.

Hand 153, 300-600/50, T16496: 8-handed. Folded to Joe in the SB who completes. He's got a 15K stack now. I check in the BB with 83o. Flop comes 766 with two spades, I have the 8 of spades. Joe checks. I bet 1000 into the 1400ish pot. Joe min-check-raises to 2000. I just call. Turn comes an offsuit Q. Joe checks, I bet 1750, Joe min-check-raises to 3500, I'm tired of this garbage so I jam for 10K more and he folds. Up to 23000.

Hand 154, 300-600/50, T22946: 8-handed. Folded to me in the SB with 89o, I complete, BB checks. Flop comes Q52 rainbow. I check, BB bets 1600, I fold.

Hand 156, 300-600/50, T22246: 9-handed. Folded to Joe two off the button who limps. Joe has a 9K stack. I raise to 2400 in the CO with ATo. Folded back to Joe who jams. I insta-call, he turns over A8, the flop comes with QT8 and he fails to catch trips. Up to 32650. I'm now the chipleader at the table, but not prohibitively; there are a number of 20-25K stacks.

Hand 167, 400-800/50, T31150: 7-handed. Folded to the button with a stack of 15K who raises to 3200. I'm in the BB with KQo. I jam, he calls with 66. I flop a Q, he fails to catch, and I'm up to 46477.I'm now very close to the chip lead - either in 2nd or 3rd position. Probably 35-40 people left at this point.

Hand 171, 400-800/50, T45927: 9-handed. I'm 2 off the button with Q4 of spades. Folded to me and I raise to 2400. The SB calls with a stack of about 30K, and everyone else folds. The flop comes Jd 8d 2s. He checks. I bet 4600. He asks for time, thinks for about fifteen seconds, and calls. The turn of an offsuit 5. He checks. I bet 12000. With 23K remaining, he thinks for about thirty seconds and folds.

Hand 177, 400-800/50, T52677: I'm dealt KK on the button. Folded to the guy two off the button who limps, the CO min-raises to 1600. The CO only has 13.5K chips total, while the limper has about 30K. I reraise to 5600 and everyone folds. Up to 56627.

Hand 180, 400-800/50, T56527: 8-handed. I'm dealt J9o UTG+2. Folded to me and I raise to 2400. Folded to the BB with a stack of about 42000 who calls. The flop comes T82 rainbow. The BB leads out with a bet of 3500. I call. The turn comes a Q completing the rainbow. Score. The BB checks, I bet 9000, the BB check-raises all-in for 36K total and I call. He's got 67 drawing dead. I'm now up to 99000, the chipleader by a solid 45K or so.

Hand 182, 600-1200/75, T99037: 8-handed. I'm dealt KK in the BB. The guy 2 off the button limps, ackbleh in the CO moves all-in for about 17K, I instacall in the BB, and the limper folds. ackbleh has A9o and fails to improve.

Hand 189, 600-1200/75, T117028: 7-handed. I'm dealt 9d6h in the big blind. Folded to the button, a mediocre player, who limps, the SB folds and I check. The flop comes K85 with two clubs, I lead out for 2400 and the button folds.

Hand 192, 600-1200/75, T118528: 7-handed. I'm dealt KTo in the CO, folded to me, I raise to 3600 and steal the blinds.

Hand 198, 600-1200/75, T118603: 7-handed. I'm dealt J9s on the button, folded to me, I raise to 3600 and steal the blinds.

Hand 201, 600-1200/75, T120703: 7-handed. I'm dealt 66 UTG, raise to 3600 and steal the blinds.

Hand 204, 800-1600/75, T121603: 7-handed. I'm dealt AA in the SB. Folded to me, I raise to 4000. The BB jams for 21K more, I call, he shows K8 of spades. The board comes 475J6, and he catches a straight to win the pot. Down to 95892. Still the chipleader by about 40K chips.

Hand 220, 800-1600/75, T92367: I pick up a walk in the big blind.

Hand 222, 800-1600/75, T92892: 9-handed again. We're down to the last three tables, and the last two tables cash. I'm dealt 6s8s on the button. UTG+2 with a 60K stack limps, folded to me and I limp, the SB folds and the BB checks. 3 to the flop of KJ6 two diamonds. Checked to the limper who bets 4800. I raise to 15000, both fold.

Hand 230, 1000-2000/100, T98642: 8-handed, I'm dealt AJo on the button, folded to me, I raise to 6000 and steal the blinds.

Hand 238, 1000-2000/100, T98642: 7-handed, I'm dealt J9s on the button, folded to me, I raise to 6000 and steal the blinds.

Hand 241, 1000-200o/100, T102042: 7-handed, I'm dealt T8o UTG+1, I raise to 6000, small stack in the cutoff raises all-in for 17K total, I call, he shows AQo and I fail to improve. Down to 85000ish.

Hand 243, 1000-2000/100, T84637: 7-handed. I'm dealt A6o in the BB, folded to the Button who pushes for 6850 total, the SB folds and I have an easy call, button has K9o, I flop an ace and that's the end of that chapter.

We're super-close to the money at this point. I lose the chip lead to another player at the table when two medium stacks butt heads. I'm still second in chips.

Hand 249, 1500-3000/150, T91951: 6-handed. I'm dealt ATo in the SB. Folded to the big stack who open raises in the CO to 9000. I reraise to 30000, CO folds. Up to about 105K.

At this point we hit the money. I'm moved to a new table. I'm the chipleader, to that's cool, but this will not be an easy table. The Shrike is directly on my right, but luckily he's short with only 10K. thorladen is two to my left with 55K. And thedonator is across the table with 25K. I'm safe for the moment, but getting chips isn't going to be easy.

Hand 257, 1500-3000/150, T98791: Folded to me two off the button, I pick up AKo, raise to 10K and steal the blinds.

Hand 261, 1500-3000/150, T103891: 8-handed. I'm in the BB with J5o. Folded to Shrike in the SB who completes. He's got 29000 total. I contemplate jamming, but decide to check. The flop comes QJ3 with two spades. Shrike leads for 6000. I move him in for 20K more, he calls and turns over J9. The turn and river are both aces and we chop.

WillMagic said, "phew"
The Shrike said, "alushglsshlusghalsuiags"

The Shrike said, "overplay j5 much"
WillMagic said, "on occasion"

Hand 262, 1500-3000/150, T104341: 8-handed. I'm in the SB with A7o, folded to me, I raise to 12000 and steal the blinds.

Hand 263, 1500-3000/150, T108391: 8-handed. I'm dealt AK of diamonds on the button. thedonator open-raises UTG for 8100. He's got about 47K total. Folded to me, I look to my left and both the blinds have stacks of 50K or less, so I just push my whole stack in. donator thinks for like 30-40 seconds and finally calls with jacks. The flop comes low with two diamonds, and I turn an ace and bust him. Up to 160K.

Hand 275, 2000-4000/200, T153611: 7-handed. I'm dealt Q5o in the BB. Folded to the cutoff who limps, folded to me and I check my option. Flop comes AQ2 two hearts. I check, he bets 8K, i call. Turn 7d. I check, he checks. River 4h. I check, he checks and shows AJ. I forget to put a note on this guy that he is a passive player. I will regret this later.

Hand 276, 2000-4000/200, T141411: 7-handed. I'm dealt 88 in the SB. Folded to me, I raise to 16K and steal the blinds.

Hand 278, 2000-4000/200, T146411: 7-handed. I'm dealt 44 in the CO, folded to me, I raise to 14000 and steal the blinds.

Hand 279, 2000-4000/200, T153611: 7-handed. I'm dealt AJs 2 off the button, folded to me and I raise to 14000. Folded to the BB who reraises to 52000. He's got another 30K behind. The BB is the passive player from hand 263. I suck so I jam. He calls with KK and flops a set to end the hope early. I'm down to 70K.

Hand 282, 2000-4000/200, T70363: 7-handed. I'm dealt J7o in the BB. Folded to Shrike in
the SB who limps. He's only got 24K total, and I think his limp is a mistake, but he clearly wants to play with me postflop. I, on the other hand, don't want to play postflop, so I jam. He folds.

Hand 289, 2000-4000/200, T68363: 6-handed. I'm dealt QJo in the SB. Folded to me and I raise to 14K. thorladen, who is now directly to my left with a stack of 55K, folds.

Hand 293, 2000-4000/200, T72763: 6-handed. I'm dealt Q9s UTG, and I raise to 14000. Folded to Shrike in the BB who jams for only 12K more, I have an easy call. He turns over AK, the flop misses both of us but he turns an ace and that's that. Down to 46K.

Hand 294, 2000-4000/200, T46275: Still 6-handed. I'm dealt 66 in the BB, UTG+1 who has me covered min-raises to 8000, folded to me and I call. Flop comes J92 with two hearts, I check, he bets 8000, I fold. Down to T38K, and in second-to-last chip position with 13 or so left - I'll have to get a bit lucky to make the final table.

Hand 296, 2000-4000/200, T35875: 6-handed. Folded to me on the button with KTo, I raise all-in and steal the blinds.

Hand 302, 3000-6000/300, T32675: 6-handed. UTG+1 minraises to 12000. I'm on the button with A8s and jam for 20K more. He folds.

Hand 303, 3000-6000/300, T55175: 6-handed. I'm dealt AJs in the CO, folded to me and I jam, all fold.

Hand 307, 3000-6000/300, T58275: 6-handed. I'm dealt 87o in the small blind, it's folded to me and I move in, thorladen has me covered but he folds.

Hand 308, 3000-6000/300, T66275: 6-handed. I'm dealt AQo on the button, folded to me and I jam and steal the blinds.

Hand 312, 3000-6000/300, T75875: 6-handed. It's folded to Shrike in the SB with 27K. He gives me a walk. I feel like it's Christmas - I had Q5o and would have had a tough decision.

At this point we reach the final table. I'm 6th in chips. One player is the prohibitive chipleader with 265K, the next player in line has only 112K, and I'm among a group with 60-90K. Shrike is the shortstack with 16K, and he busts on the first hand of the FT.

Hand 321, 3000-6000/300, T65975: 8-handed. Folded to me 2 off the button. The big stack is directly to my left with a massive stack of 300K. Thorladen is on the button with about 80K, and both the blinds have around 55K. I'm dealt A7s.

I jam. Big stack reraise-jams. I'm screwed. He turns over JJ, I fail to improve, and that's the end. 8th place, 690 bucks.

Meh, it was fun, and I'm fairly happy with my play, especially in the middle stages. I played a couple hands poorly at the end and it cost me a chance at a higher finish.

C'est la vie.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Will

[bugstud]

nice report, but I double buy at the start even with a shoddy deepstack game.

I really like the way you used your CL...

Nice tourney!

I was wondering are you always that agressive? I am not as passive as the other guy, but I don't bet/raise/call that much. Do you know what was your % of flop seen?

[WillMagic]

[ QUOTE ]
I really like the way you used your CL...

[/ QUOTE ]

I honestly have no idea what this means. But I'll take it as a compliment.

[ QUOTE ]
I was wondering are you always that agressive? I am not as passive as the other guy, but I don't bet/raise/call that much. Do you know what was your % of flop seen?

[/ QUOTE ]

Generally...yes, I'm very aggressive. I fall somewhere in the middle on the loose/tight scale preflop, but I bet and raise a ton postflop.

Will

[WillMagic]

[ QUOTE ]
nice report, but I double buy at the start even with a shoddy deepstack game.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's the reason for this? I guess maybe "no matter how bad your deepstack game is other players will be worse." But I'm not sure I buy that in high Stars rebuys.

Will

[ansky451]

If you don't think you have an edge with equal stacks, what makes you think you have an edge with a smaller stack?

[bugstud]

^^^^^^^^^

It means, I like how you used your Chip Lead (CL)... You played it well! It was a compliment!

[WillMagic]

[ QUOTE ]
If you don't think you have an edge with equal stacks, what makes you think you have an edge with a smaller stack?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't necessarily think I'll have an edge over my starting table. In the event that I don't, I'm fairly confident that my EV disadvantage will be increased by taking a rebuy.

In general, I think I have an edge against the field, otherwise I wouldn't play the tournament. But having an edge against the field isn't the same as necessarily having an edge against my starting table. If my starting table has 3-4 competent deep-stack nl players and nobody spewing chips, then my edge is either small or nonexistent, and the chips I get from the rebuy may well be worth less than the cost of the rebuy itself.

Will

[bugstud]

if my table is that bad I ratchet down and make the nuts after rebuying